ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during his podcast conversation with George that an attempt was made to deal him to Golden State, which led George to say that such a deal would have been stopped by the NBA. The precedent, according to George, would have been the proposed 2011 deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers before being stopped by then-commissioner David Stern:

Wojnarowski indicated that the Pacers’ asking price of Warriors guard Klay Thompson helped officially put a quick end to any further discussion between the two franchises. That then led Indiana to surprisingly ship George to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.

“It was surprising. This team wasn’t one of the teams that we had in mind,” George said on Wednesday. “I thought I was going to four or five other teams that were pretty active in trade [talks]. When I found out it was OKC, I was quite surprised, but at the same time I was happy about the trade.

While George was dealt to Oklahoma City, he still is scheduled to be a free agent next July and has been the subject of countless rumors about signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

About Brad Sullivan

Brad Sullivan is a lead writer for Cavaliers Nation. He has spent much of life in the Cleveland, Ohio area, and has remained a Cavalier fan from their 1970 beginnings through the return of LeBron James. While that fandom was sorely tested during the Reign of Error known simply by one word, Stepien, that overall historical perspective will be part of his writing for Cavaliers Nation in the months ahead.